Monthly Statistics Making a Thousand Square Feet per Person the New American Standard Supervalu (locally Albertson's) to Go Zero Waste at 40 Stores
Westside Farmer's Market Green Drinks
SANTA BARBARA REAL ESTATE SNAPSHOT: June 20 - July 17 Price Improvements: 192 Pending: 123 breaks down to: Under $600k: 50 $600-800k: 25 $800k-1 million: 14 $1-2 million: 26 $2-4 million: 7 $4-8 million: 0 $8 million+: 1 Closed: 106 breaks down to: Under $600k: 37 $600-800k: 17 $800k-1 million: 17 $1-2 million: 28 $2-4 million: 6 $4-8 million: 2 $8 million+: 0 Off Market:expired,canceled,withdrawn: 103
This is a look at statistics provided through the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Service over the past month. They include single family residences and condos, from Carpinteria to Goleta.
Making a Thousand Square Feet per Person the New American Standard
Let’s face it, the Great Recession has not been a plus for the green movement overall. Most ordinary Americans are still sympathetic to the cause, but their willingness to spend even a penny extra for environmentally friendly products has been dampened by four dollar gas, five dollar cereal and loss of equity in their homes.
On the other hand, a positive by-product of all this is a lot less enthusiasm for what used to be part of the American dream: a McMansion of your very own, and the extra cars, boats and even planes that went along with this be-careful-what-you-wish-for icon. I know many successful boomers who are now moping around their 8 to 12,000-foot monuments to capitalism (many of them rendered in classic McMansionesque Tuscan style architecture) wondering what to do with the unused acres of space.
“The Brady Bunch house seems like a shack compared to the dream of the typical middle class homebuyer/builder,” said New York copywriter Jenny Lazar in an email to me on this subject. Indeed, her point is well taken, what used to be considered a large house is of modest dimensions by today’s standards.
This is not meant to pass judgment on a long-standing tradition and part of the American Dream as we used to know it: a large, spacious home featuring huge foyer, high ceilings, many bedrooms and bathrooms, giant dining room and eat-in kitchen, multi-car garage, and more. Instead, this is to point out that perhaps America’s long-standing love affair with this type of — not very green — home has finally run its course?
I can think of a number of successful friends who live in houses of this description. Surprisingly, many of them are empty-nesters or have only one or two children, which is hardly enough to fill a home with six to ten bedrooms. Other than the several times per year that they host major parties, community events and/or charity functions, they just aren’t getting the value out of their super sized abodes. And a lot more often than you’d think, these homeowners are saying, “boy, if I could get out of this place whole, I’d like to sell it and downsize to a smaller house…”
Why do they want out? Usually, it’s not only the unused space, but the carrying costs. Heating, cooling, cleaning and maintaining huge homes is an expensive proposition. Not to mention, the property taxes. The care and feeding of a large home is a big responsibility that seemingly never ends.
Indeed, magazines like DWELL, and websites such as Inhabitat.com — both leaders of architectural style and design – showcase smaller homes for families of up to four members. Usually these are in the 1,000 to 3,000 square foot range, built with fully sustainable materials and state-of-the-art energy efficient HVAC systems. Upon considering this trend versus the longer-standing bigger is better, Sierra Club Green Home.com proposes a new industry standard that balances our longtime desire for lots of space with the current and future need to downsize: one thousand square feet per inhabitant, max. So, a family of four would get up to 4,000 square feet, a childless couple would have 2,000 feet or less, and so on. Sorry, pets don’t count as people (although my personal bias is that having a large dog in a very small space is not healthy for the animal).
No doubt hardcore environmentalists will think this plan is too liberal, but I believe we have to start somewhere and we have to be realistic about the ability to change long-standing philosophies overnight. Perhaps ultimately downsizing should mean 750 or even 500 square feet per inhabitant? For now, however, in this first incantation, I think the 1,000 feet per person proposed by Sierra Club Green Home makes sense.
One small problem presents itself in all this: what do we do with the multitude of huge homes that are on the market now and will be even more plentiful once the downsizing trend catches fire? Indeed, McMansions in most major cities can be bought for hundreds of thousands if not millions less today than at the peak of conspicuous consumption, 2007. This probably won’t change given the dynamics of the market.
Think about it, the older empty nesters increasingly want to voluntarily downsize, for sustainability among other reasons. And to their credit, the new, younger generation of successful people don’t seem to want the huge homes. They are gravitating toward the smaller, hipper, more sustainable structures featured in DWELL and Inhabitat.com. Which is great for sustainability in general, as these younger opinion leaders are setting a new standard for what is considered “making it” in American business.
Overall, too many McMansions on the market could be viewed as a positive. How they will be absorbed by the marketplace overall is an issue, but in general, we see a very real possibility that downsizing may become “the new black” in terms of what’s considered chic, hip, cool AND sustainable. And that’s a good thing overall.
Jennifer Schwab is the Director of Sustainability for Sierra Club Green Home, where this blog post originally appeared. Visit her blog at www.sierraclubgreenhome.com. Supervalu (Albertson's) to Go Zero Waste at 40 StoresSupervalu Inc. and its Albertsons brand of supermarkets have announced that they will move 40 stores to be zero waste by the end of next February, Waste & Recycling News In November of 2010, two SUPERVALU-owned Albertsons stores in Santa Barbara, Calif. reached “zero waste” classification, making SUPERVALU the first U.S. retail grocer to announce this achievement. Through a combination of innovative recycling programs, a food donation program and a joint organic composting program with the City of Santa Barbara, the two stores now divert all non-contaminated waste from landfills and incinerators. In total, over 95 percent of all waste products from both stores are recycled, reused or composted –exceeding the 90 percent threshold commonly recognized as zero waste. Together, the stores divert annually on average 2,074,328 pounds of waste from the landfill, including 808,200 pounds of cardboard, 27,524 pounds of plastic and 2,688 pounds of paper. “We are excited that Albertsons, an EPA WasteWise partner, is on the path towards zero waste,” said Viccy Salazar, Materials Management and Stewardship Lead for the EPA’s Seattle Office. “Based on the results Albertsons shared with EPA, their two Santa Barbara stores are beyond the 90% diversion rate that is commonly used to mean zero waste. It takes leadership, commitment and a clear vision to achieve those results.” Albertsons also partnered with the City of Santa Barbara to establish one of the first citywide composting programs in the United States, which is a key piece of their waste diversion efforts. As a result of this program,
the city will compost 4,000,000 pounds of foodscraps from 120 program participants this year alone. Another key component of the waste diversion program includes donating staple and perishable product that would otherwise go unused for area food banks. Through the Albertsons Fresh Rescue Program, these two stores donate on average a total of 149,598 pounds per year of food to the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
“Over the past several years, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has seen a substantial increase in the variety and volume of product we receive from Albertson's Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. “The nonprofit organizations and churches who rely on the Foodbank for their food distributions continue to comment on the quality and availability of the product we pick up from Albertsons.” “As one of the largest generators of organic
materials in the city, Albertsons’ participa-
tion sets a high bar for sustainable waste
management practices on the South Coast,”
said Eric Lohela, Environmental Specialist for
the City of Santa Barbara. The Harding School Farmers Market. Every Wednesday, 3:30–7pm 1625 Robbins St. (at Valerio) The Mobile Cafe Food Truck will be there with delicious food to eat there or take to go: Grilled Chicken Tacos — $5 Organic Beef Hamburger — $5 Old Fashioned Grilled 3 Cheese Sandwich—$4 Farmers Market Salad w/ Grilled Balsalmic Vegetables —$5 We need your help to keep this going, please come to the market and bring a friend, lots of friends! Bring a chair to sit and converse and meet your neighbors. Get your veggies and fruit while you are there! Make it a habit! Green Drinks @ Soho Restaurant and Music Club
Tonight: Always takes place on the third Tuesday of each month...tonight! A Green Drinks favorite, Soho will let us take over the patio for full enjoyment of the fine summer weather. Entrance is FREE. This month's Green Drinks features the Dr. Steven Gaines, Dean of UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Management. He'll give a brief talk (starting at 7pm) about how the Bren School works, innovative projects by their students and a view into sustainability & higher education.
Zero Waste:
"Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health."
Cool Website of the Month:
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN. BY GAUCHOS. FOR GAUCHOS.
URBAN, UPSCALE LOFT STYLE APARTMENTS STEPS FROM UC SANTA BARBARA
6533 & 6539 TRIGO ROAD, ISLA VISTA, CALIFORNIA
|  |  FOR SALE: 1419 Wyant Road Montecito, CA 93108 Listed at $5,500,000 Ideally situated on a private knoll between the upper and lower villages of Montecito, this unique, warm and inviting gated estate boasts 1.3 acres and offers sweeping mountain views. Completed in 2004, with incredible attention to detail and craftsmanship, this property features an exceptionally functional indoor / outdoor floor plan with contemporary styling throughout all of the living spaces, including the four spacious bedrooms all complete with custom closet systems, a home office and a state of the art media room. Green Features • Strawbales with earthen plaster scratch coats inside and out and finished of lime (interior) and gypsum (interior).
• All Non-toxic products.
• Blue jean insulation in ceilings and between all rooms.
• Solar PV panels
• Solar hot water system for domestic and radiant floor heating uses.
• Required every sub-contractor to provide the Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), for any proposed material in the house.
• Radiant Floor Heating throughout the entire house. Concrete floors level 1 and repurposed wood on level 2.
• Rain water catchment system that flows into three 1,700 gallon tanks underground, for landscape use.
• Gray water system not in use but installed. Able to bypass.
• Low Voltage lighting throughout.
• Full home automation system to reduce energy usage.
• All wiring run to avoid exposure to EMFs.
• High content flyash concrete floors
• Repurposed Jarrah wood used for floors, windows and doors.
• Repurposed antiques for all bath vanities.
• Feng Shui design
• Edible and native landscaping Please contact Elizabeth or DeAnn for more information and to schedule a showing.
FOR SALE: 10 San Marcos Trout Club Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Price Adjusted $829,000 Relax and enjoy the views in the San Marcos Trout Club. This 2/2.5ba 2 story cedar log home was built in 1992. This property boasts high ceilings, lots of wood, granite countertops, a masonry fireplace and custom cabinets. The decks and Jacuzzi have sweeping ocean and city views. The Trout Club offers acres of community space and access to a creek that flows year round. All of this and only 10 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara.
BACK ON THE MARKET:
Laurel Springs Ranch
2720 Painted Cave Road Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Price Adjusted Again to $8,000,000
160 acre, 5 parcels Turn key property, panoramic views lodge that sleeps 30, yoga studio, main house, multiple guest houses, spa, solar heated pool, barn, riding arena, pond, hiking trails, plentiful water, organic garden & more.
 1605 Villa Avenue Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Sold for $675,000 There is lots of love and attention to detail in this lovely Westside cottage located on a two block long street. Featuring two bedrooms, one light and bright bathroom, hardwood and cork floors throughout, fireplace, remodeled kitchen with Wolf Range, butcher block counter. There have been lots of upgrades in the home including the electrical and heating systems, new paint, upgraded windows, customized closets and a new sewer line. The entire yard uses native landscaping and is low on water use. There is a compost bin, garden and fruit trees. The setting is peaceful with large deck in the back yard and a one car garage that has been converted into a home office. Home sweet home for the new buyers!
 SOLD: 2345 Skyline Way Santa Barbara, CA 93109 Sold for $849,000
Not on the market, ocean view Mesa home. Comprised of three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a spacious living room, dining room and office, this gem is ready for its new owners!
The kitchen and dining room blend seamlessly to the large deck which looks out over expansive ocean and island views. The house is situated next to a hill which makes the setting very private and rests on approximately 1/3 of an acre. The house has been updated, is beautifully landscaped has a two car garage with storage space. The location is ideal, just up the street from Monroe Elementary, a short jaunt to Elings Park and the Wilcox Property and all that the Mesa Shopping Center has to offer. This was a great find and a great price!
 Interested in making some Extra Money from your home while you are away? Consider renting out your home as a short term vacation rental or as a long term rental. There is strong demand for renters from all over the world wanting to come enjoy our oceanside paradise. I have successfully helped several clients and I can help you too. Here are a few current rental websites I manage: Contact DeAnn for more information. |
